Foreclosure – Page 3 – Miami Real Estate Attorney Blog

Foreclosure Activity Increases in Miami

Foreclosures rose 11 percent in May in Miami compared with the same time last year. That increase marks the sixth consecutive year-over-year increase of foreclosure filings.

The increase in foreclosure filings in Miami should not come as a surprise. Due to the problems that many lenders encountered last year with the robo-signing scandal, and other similar issues, many lenders simply stopped filing foreclosures. They did so in an effort to correct the problems and address different investigations launched by various state attorneys general brought to protect consumers.

So while the numbers pointed towards a slow down of the foreclosures last year, that slow down was a artificial slow down due to the problems many lenders encountered. However, those problems appear to have been corrected. As such, we should expect a continued increase in foreclosures in Miami through at least the end of the year as many lenders move forward with their foreclosures.

Don’t despair if you are one of the many struggling homeowners facing foreclosure. You have options and many alternatives available to help you achieve your objective.

Banks have become more aggressive in the re-financing market through the HARP program. Call us today to assess whether you qualify. Loan modifications are a continued potential avenue of financial relief. Under certain circumstances, many banks are even writing off principal of the original loan. Then there are other options such as the HAFA program associated with short sales which could result in the borrower actually get paid to move.

Florida Supreme Court Hears Arguments on a Potentially Pivotal Foreclosure Fraud Case

The Florida Supreme Court recently heard arguments on a foreclosure case that could have sweeping consequences for foreclosures in the entire state of Florida.

What is particularly interesting about this case is the fact that the Florida Supreme Court is hearing arguments on a case where the actual litigants have actually settled their differences. Despite the settlement, the Florida Supreme Court deems the matter important enough to address.

Good thing they did too. Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have been addressing the issues associated with the banks efforts to push through foreclosures for some time despite the fact that some banks lack the necessary evidence to prevail in that foreclosure. These issues stem from improper service of process, robo-signing allegations, and misconduct committed by certain law firm that handled the bulk of foreclosures just a few years ago.

These problems have resulted in many banks assessing their chances of success in litigation and deciding that it would be cheaper to just dismiss the lawsuit. Banks then often times attempt to re-file those lawsuit down the road. But they encounter problems when they do so, and those problems may even result in yet another dismissal. And the second dismissal could be fatal to any other effort to attempt to foreclose on the property.

The case that the Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear is addressing just that very issue. The case, known as Roman Pino v. Bank of New York Mellon, originated from the robo-signing scandal that emerged in 2010 when it was revealed that the banks and their law firms had hired and paid individuals to sign documents that they knew nothing about in an effort to push foreclosures through the judicial system.

The original foreclosure action filed against Mr. Pino was dismissed once it appeared as though the loan documents were fraudulently procured. The bank then re-filed the same lawsuit some three months later, but with difference documents. The attorney representing Mr. Pino has argued that the bank should not be allowed to use a voluntary dismissal to dispose of a case that was dependent on fraudulent documents only to re-file the same lawsuit but with different documents.

We have seen the voluntary dismissal tactic used many times with our clients. And that creates opportunities for many struggling homeowners to potentially get back on their feet, or otherwise chart a course of action that is best for them. Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it. Contact us today.

Deficiency Judgments in Foreclosures

In a time where people are losing their homes to foreclosure daily, what can possibly add more insult to injury? The answer – deficiency judgments.

A deficiency judgment is a money judgment entered against former homeowners who lost their property to foreclosure. The amount of the judgment is the difference between what was owed on the loan and the price the home sold for on the sale date.

In the majority of these scenarios, homeowners are left paying thousands of dollars due to the nature of the current-underwater market. This judgment follows the homeowner for up to twenty years, if not longer. Florida, a state that allows deficiency judgments, has had the most foreclosures since 2007. Making deficiency judgments an issue that hits really close to home.

In other words, if pushing you to attain an unaffordable mortgage during the go-go heyday of the real estate housing market was not enough many banks today are pushing for deficiency judgment. Many banks are today chasing depleted borrowers to pay for the deficiency to improve the bank’s bottom line, while further pushing the borrower to the brink of economic collapse.

What about unpaid homeowner’s association dues? Unfortunately, they are also subject to deficiency judgments, which allows condo associations to go after former owners for unpaid fees.

Another potential problem is that many of the banks are selling these deficiency judgments to investors who are in turn pouring the judgments into hedge funds and selling them off as securities, or selling them to collection firms who ramp up their collection efforts. And the collection agency may have this judgment for at least 20 years. Which means that the collection agency would be within their right to use all legal tactics necessary to collect.

Until the economy rebounds, we will continue to see courts around the country enter deficiency judgments against homeowners. And even if these same homeowners are fortunate enough to find themselves in new homes, some might not be able to pay off the judgment.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

If you need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.

The Latest Twist in the Foreclosure Crises Has Bank of America Suing …. Bank of America!

To add to the tragic comedy that is the housing and mortgage market in the United States, it turns out that several news outlets recently reported that that Bank of America, on several occasions, has sued itself in foreclosure proceedings.

It is not as far-fetched as one would think. The problem lies with the robo-signing crisis, which, among other things, was a result of bank employees cutting corners when processing paperwork. Now lenders, borrowers, and the judicial court system are finding themselves severely backlogged in the foreclosure process. This has allowed cases to go through the system with the same bank being on opposing sides of the foreclosure.

This happens when a bank services the first mortgage on behalf of an investor while contemporaneously owning the second mortgage. The law requires the bank to name themselves as a defendant in order to dispose of the junior interest. Adding insult to injury, the bank will have to hire a lawyer to file the foreclosure suit and another lawyer to defend the suit.

Financial institutions, such as Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, will continue to see these scenarios pop up again so long as the foreclosure crisis continues. With no end in sight, we are left imagining what it must be like to contact opposing counsel, who happens to be only a cubicle or office space away.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.

Real Estate Round Up – What do Burt Reynolds and OJ Simpson have in Common?

BODY:
If you answered that they both played football in college, you would be correct. Burt Reynolds played football for FSU, while OJ Simpson had a highly decorated football career that culminated with an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after having won a Heisman Trophy at USC.

But they share something else in common. They have both been hit with foreclosures.

Burt Reynolds faces the prospect of losing his waterfront home in Hobe Sound, Florida after failing to make mortgage payments for almost a year.

OJ Simpson’s home in South Miami is now in foreclosure because he was sentenced to jail and has failed to make a payment while he has been incarcerated.

The foreclosures of Burt Reynolds and OJ Simpson simply serve as a reminder that foreclosures have hit both rich and poor alike like an epidemic.

But for those if you facing foreclosure, there is hope. A proper plan could help aleviate the stress involved with the foreclosure, and help navigate out of those rough waters. Often times there are alternatives to foreclosure, but just takes planning to help address each alternative.

As for what will become of OJ Simpson’s home after the foreclosure, a local news report suggests that PETA wants to turn his home into a vegetarian museum. PETA may end up working with the bank to purchase the home and help solve OJ Simpson’s pending foreclosure. It just serves to illustrate that there are alternatives to foreclosure. It just takes exploring and planning to find them.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

We are certainly in difficult times. At Alvarez & Barbara, LLP, we understand all of our client’s individual needs and pride ourselves in providing high quality service.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.

Florida Legislators Ponder Changes to Florida’s Foreclosure Laws

Florida’s annual legislative session is about to get under way. Florida’s legislators are about to contemplate many significant issues this legislative session. Chief among them includes re-districting and gambling.

But the ongoing foreclosures crises in Florida will also be front and center. Several laws have been introduced that could impact the method and manner in which banks foreclose on properties in Florida, and especially here in South Florida.

One of the issues being addressed this legislative session involves deficiency judgments in foreclosures.

For instance, lenders are often entitled to judgments against the homeowner to make up the difference between the mortgage debt and the amount recovered at the foreclosure auction. Those judgments against the homeowners are good 20 years.

This pending bill tries to strike a balance between homeowners and lenders. It tries to create a way for lenders and homeowners to satisfy a deficiency judgment in exchange for homeowners doing certain things.

The bill states that homeowners in default on homestead purchased from 1/1/04 to 12/31/08, may receive a waiver of deficiency and up to $1,000 in moving expenses if they settle their foreclosure actions with a non-monetary judgment and vacate the property within three months of the judgment or judicial sale, whichever is later.

The state fund would be used to give lenders incentive to settle by helping them recoup some of their losses where properties are worth less than the mortgage balance.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

If you are facing the prospects of having your home foreclosed on, or if you are seeking to purchase a home in this current market, please contact us today for a free consultation.

The Foreclosure Crisis Continues to Haunt South Florida’s Real Estate Market

If the current foreclosure crisis were a football game, we would be in half time right now. Based in large part on new data that was recently released it appears as though the foreclosure crisis is only about halfway over.

New home foreclosures recently increased while the number of borrowers falling behind on their payments decreased slightly. Not surprisingly, borrowers with subprime adjustable mortgages saw the biggest jump in foreclosures recently.

Almost 5% of all subprime loans recently entered into the foreclosure pipeline, up from 3.6% in the second quarter. One of the main reasons for that increased foreclosure spike was the expiration of the foreclosure moratorium placed on a number of states. In other words, many states were recently given the go ahead to file new foreclosure actions against borrowers who have fallen behind on their payments.

Additionally, another reason for the recent spike in foreclosure activity is that many of the borrowers who have fallen behind were not approved for a loan modification or other program to help save their home.

On the other hand, the pace of new foreclosures for all loans for this time last year was actually down. Simply put, there were less foreclosures filed at the same point this year than there were compared with last year at this point in time.

Overall, the pace of new foreclosures for all loans was up by almost 11% in the third quarter from 9% in the prior three-month period. That’s down from 1.3% in the same period a year ago.

As for the overall health of the nation’s current real estate market, a lot still depends on the economy of the whole. The economy is still not producing jobs fast enough to aid the nation’s housing market.

Additionally, continued improvement in home sales and home prices will depend heavily on the volume of foreclosed homes in the housing market. Recent housing data suggests that many lenders have barely made a dent in the overall inventory of foreclosed homes.

As such, there is no question that this is a buyer’s market. Indeed, South Florida’s real estate market has picked up some steam recently due in large to foreigners investing in South Florida.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

If you are facing the prospects of having your home foreclosed on, or if you are seeking to purchase a home in this current market, please contact us today for a free consultation.

Time is Now to Challenge Your Foreclosure Thanks to a new Government Program Aimed at Fighting Robo-Signing and Fraud

If you feel as though your home was improperly foreclosed in either 2009 or 2010, then there may be recourse for you yet.

The Federal Reserve Board recently announced that homeowners who believe that robo signing and other such issues hurt them during the foreclosure process can complain directly to the Federal Reserve for potential recourse.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is beginning a multifaceted independent review of foreclosure actions. Their review will apply to homeowners that went through the foreclosure process and will involve some of the largest banks and mortgage service on in the country. They include GMAC mortgage, HSBC Finance Corporation, SunTrust mortgage, and EMC Mortgage Corporation, among others. The major banks, including Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, GMAC, and EMC, will have to fund these independent reviews to evaluate whether borrowers suffered financial injury through error, misrepresentation, fraud, or other deficiencies in the foreclosure process.

If the homeowner was injured during the foreclosure process, then the homeowner could get some kind of remedy for the misrepresentations that took place during the foreclosure process.

The major mortgage services began sending out letters to eligible homeowners recently to explain the process. A homeowner’s request for review must be received by April 30, 2012.

So could a homeowner get there home back? Probably not. In all likelihood, that home has probably already been sold. But each case will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. And if an appropriate remedy is the return of an unsold home to a homeowner, then it is certainly possible. But more realistically, the likely remedy will probably be some form of compensation.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.

Legislation is being Considered that Would Remove Foreclosures from the Judiciary and bypass Judges all together

They are at it again. Our Florida legislators may attempt to tinker with the foreclosure system in the State of Florida to the detriment of all homeowners in the State of Florida. And this after such an effort failed last year.

There is no question that Florida’s courts are flooded with foreclosure filings and lawsuits. Our court system needs relief from all the filings.

As such, Florida lawmakers are flirting with plans to take foreclosures out of the judicial system. The proposed bill would allow banks to skip legal proceedings all together and have foreclosures proceed on a non-judicial basis. In other words, Florida’s judiciary would no longer have to rule on foreclosure disputes.

While taking foreclosures out of the judicial system may seem like a good idea, it is not.

This controversial piece of legislation would weaken the voices of the many distressed homeowners in Florida by depriving them of their basic due process rights to a hearing, and notice.

That is especially significant given the current climate of alleged foreclosure fraud. The issues stem from a direct result of allegations of robo signing, fraud, documentation errors, issues with process servers, problems servicing loan modifications, and other similar issues, which have prompted many lenders to slow down the foreclosure process.

But without basic due process rights to notice and a hearing many of these suspect practices may have never come to light. And many unsuspecting home owners would have lost their homes unnecessarily so as a result.

Florida has the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate, and is one of 20 states that require all foreclosures to go through the court system.

Court action isn’t needed in Michigan, Arizona, California and Nevada — other states with high foreclosure rates. On average, foreclosure proceedings in those states take from 392 days in Arizona to 511 in California.

In Florida it takes 638 days.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.

Improper Foreclosure Practices Were Known by Fannie Mae as Far Back as 2003

Fannie Mae know about the “robo signing” allegations, as well as other problems with the foreclosure handling, as far back as 2003.

Such allegations are the subject of state attorney generals, including Florida’s, across the country, into how lenders and their law firms ignored proper procedures to handle the avalanche of the foreclosure paperwork.

According to recent news reports, an unnamed shareholder warned Fannie Mae of alleged foreclosure abuses in 2003. Fannie Mae responded by hiring a law firm to investigate the claims in 2005. The law firm reported in 2006 that it had found foreclosure attorneys in Florida were routinely filing false pleadings and affidavits.

Presumably, one of the law offices in Florida that was beset with problems was the law offices of David J. Stern. Mr. Stern recently closed his office, but left a mess in the wake of his hastily withdraw on thousands of foreclosure files.

That has included investigations and lawsuits. The investigations have revealed that many in the foreclosure pipeline have cut corners to the detriment of innocent homeowners.

Fraud is widespread in foreclosure cases. It appears to be a systemic problem. Despite this fact, its not easy to spot. It takes an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to spot fraud. But spotting the fraud is not even half the battle. The challenging part is attacking the fraud and establishing the appropriate strategy.

Navigating these waters can be difficult, but we are experienced in handling foreclosure matters. People often think that foreclosure defense basically entails delaying the “inevitable” – a foreclosure. However, many alternatives exist. At Alvarez & Barbara, we don’t buy time to delay the inevitable. We buy to time to find a solution that suits each individual client.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.